Perception -  13

Perception: 9

Zeenon skulks over to stand beside Peace, cradling something in its big, metal hands. The front of the warforged is dripping with pumpkin innards, but it doesn't seem to be bothered by it. After a few heartbeats, when Zeenon feels Peace is distracted, it opens its mouth and pops the tiny pumpkin in, the baby fruit disappearing in one.

Peace -- as you look around to see if Bilick has noticed the destruction of maybe 10% of his pumpkin crop, you see the dwarf riding on a donkey towards the Wolfwood. At the moment, he's just past the town, almost at the edge of the treeline  where the Temple of Arawai is located.

OOC: 10%? Yikes!

Peace thinks about how he could smooth this over with the already on edge dwarf.  I'm going to need to pay him for the damaged pumpkins, as well as a premium.  Small comfort if they were for his own subsistence.  He looks up and sees Bilick heading into the woods.  Peace calls down into the cellar, "Hey folks, our dwarf is riding into the woods towards the Temple.  There may be something worth seeing there if we can catch up and sneak up on him."

(Turns out you can't turn off italics once they are on)

(No worries -- its not like there's a Halloween in Eberron.)

Korvash perks up as he hears about Bilick. "Yes, I am sure we can go and investigate," he calls back up, before joining Peace back outside the cellar.

Breyten hears Peace's message, he quickly closes back up what he had opened to look at the wounds and then looks to Rowan and Korvash with a solemn regard before sauntering up the stairs to rejoin Peace and Zeenon. 

"Dain was killed by something that would have large paws, three claws, or some sort of weapon that is similar." Breyten looks off across the pumpkin patch, noticing the destruction but ultimately disregarding it to look for Bilick. "Which way did he go?"

"That likely demonstrates that there is no way for Beard to have killed him, right?  That's good to know."  Peace feels a sense of relief that the jovial Shifter may be proven innocent after all.  That relief is immediately quenched by the now more likely reality that someone was setting him up.  "Dain moved on this way. *Peace gestures toward the Temple*  He was riding a donkey into the forest line."  Peace pauses and thinks for a moment, "Hey, Rowan.  If you see anyone who has some kind of weapon that has three claws, make sure to snap a picture."

(Would Peace remember if any of the shifters had 3 claws?  If I have to specify, what about Cocksure?)

"It does at that..." Breyten said mulling over what he knew, "What do we all know about the relationship between these townsfolk and Wardens, there's tension ya?"

"It seems to me that a large part of the tension is that the locals fought and died for their freedom in the War, while the Wardens stayed here and made sure there was some kind of civilization for them to return to.  They feel like they earned their freedom, and the Wardens shouldn't have any authority over them because of that fact."  

The dwarf has passed by the temple and looks now as though he is about to disappear into the woods right where the temple is.

"Come on, everyone.  We need to get moving.  Let's walk and talk until we get near the woodline.  We don't want to lose him."

(Peace, based on the way Breyten described them, you can't entirely eliminate all the shifters -- the fox-like Cocksure or a handful of shifters who are of the Swiftstride/feline ancestry, could have possibly made them; but without seeing them yourself, its hard to tell.)

(I'm assuming you all are following Bilick into the forest -- let me know if you're planning on stopping at the Temple, first.)

As you all approach the Wolfwood you notice how beautiful the forest is at the moment. Reds, yellows, browns, and oranges mingle among the trees and at the moment the forest is quiet. There are a number of paths in the Wolfwood, and a roughly hewn sign displaying directions to Havenglen, the Wolf's Paw crest, the Riverwood, and a sign for the Warden's Grove -- there is some Druidic writing on the sign as well. The forest looks very well-maintained, so its clear that, here, at least, the Wardens are very active. There are a number of tracks through the woods but with a little study (and a Survival check) , you should be able to pick up Bilick's trail.

Following Bilick through the woods, Peace can't help but once again be taken in by the beauty of the calm.  Seriously, I need to get the kids out here.  They'd love it.  

Peace tries to follow the donkey's tracks, hoping to keep back enough to not be caught.  Survival 16

If he recognizes the writing as Druidic, he would ask Rowan if she could read it.

Korvash will also try to pick up where Bilick has gone. (Survival: 9)

Peace, you see so many different animal tracks its hard for you to make sense of which ones are Bilick's donkey. When you ask Rowan to read the sign, it takes her a few minutes, as she is distracted taking numerous artistic photos of the trees and various interesting rocks she sees.

"Oh, um...." She scans the sign and says "It says 'Welcome, friends of the forest. Please see Archdruid Teollin at the Grove prior to travelling through these woods to receive his blessing.' Huh. That sounds nice enough, right? Maybe we should check in with them?"

Korvash, you are actually able to pick up the trail of the donkey fairly quickly -- they lead up the path to the Wolf's Paw ridge. If you follow quickly, you estimate you can probably catch him before he reaches the crest of the ridge.

"So... should we check in with Teollin first or just follow Bilick?" Korvash asks the group.

"Probably best we check in with Teollin, we don't want to be on the Warden's bad side." Breyten said as he took in the forest around him. He felt so much more at home in the forests since his deal, it unnerved him. He had gone from clearing forest for farm land to getting nauseous at the thought.